malmsey

English

Etymology

Via Middle English malmesye from Middle Dutch malemeseye, from Italian via Old French, ultimately from Ancient Greek Μονεμβασία (Monembasía, “Monemvasia”, a city on the Peloponnese), from μόνος (mónos, “only one”) + ἔμβασις (émbasis, “entering into”, ἐν + βάσις). Doublet of malvoisie.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːmzɪ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑ(l)mzi/

Noun

malmsey (countable and uncountable, plural malmseys)

1. A sweet fortified wine made in Madeira, originally from the malvasia grape.

   Synonym: malvoisie

   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
     , New York, published 2001, page 223:

     All black wines, over-hot, compound, strong, thick drinks, as muscadine, malmsey, alicant, rumney, brown bastard, metheglin, and the like […]

Translations

wine made from malvasia

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 馬姆齊甜酒／马姆齐甜酒 (mǎmǔqí tiánjiǔ)

• Czech: malvaz m
• Finnish: Malvasia, Malvasia-viini
• French: malvoisie (fr) m or f
• German: Malvasier m
• Italian: malvasia (it) f or m
• Middle English: malmesye, malvesye
• Polish: małmazja (pl) f
• Portuguese: malvasia (pt) m or f
• Russian: мальва́зия (ru) f (malʹvázija)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ма̀лва̄зија f

  Roman: màlvāzija (sh) f

• Spanish: malvasía f
• Ukrainian: мальва́зія f (malʹvázija)

Middle English

Noun

malmsey

1. Alternative form of malmesye